Barton County KS Archives Biographies.....Winstead, Willis W. 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com October 3, 2005, 10:35 pm

Author: Ira H. Clark

WILLIS W. WINSTEAD

[photo] W. W. Winstead

THERE are few men who had more to do with the early history of Barton County,
and especially that part of it that has to do with the City of Great Bend. He
was the second sheriff of Barton County and filled the office of city marshal of
 Great Bend at a time when it required a man of strong nerve and a determined
nature to deal with the vicious element that made up a part of the town's
population. He was born in the little town of Dukedom, Tenn., in 1844, and came
to Barton County in 1873. He married Miss Georgia Stone, a daughter of T. L.
Stone for whom Stone street was named. She, with her sister, were the first
young ladies to arrive in Great Bend. Mr. and Mrs. Winstead were the parents of
three children as follows: Wirt W., who died when he was 24 years of age; George
M., who for some time was in the jewelry business in Great Bend, but about a
year ago moved to Hutchinson and established one of the largest and most
complete stocked jewelry stores in this part of the country; Thomas E., who is
proprietor of the Duncan Bottling Works in Great Bend. Mrs. Winstead's father
ran the old Southern hotel which, when it was first built, was known as the
Drovers Cottage, and was the first building on the townsite of Great Bend. At
this time Mrs. Winstead was 15 years of age and her two sisters, who are now
Mrs. Honnen and Mrs. Crath, were 5 and 13, respectively. Mr. Winstead was deputy
marshal for some time and in all his public duties proved himself a man whose
nerve enabled him to deal with delicate conditions with forethought and
determination. He had to deal with some mighty tough characters during his terms
as marshal and sheriff but the evil-doers learned that Mr. Winstead was a man
who placed his duty above everything else. He was a kind and considerate father
and his death, which occurred a few years ago, caused a great deal of sorrow
among his relatives and friends who knew him for a man in every sense of the word.


Additional Comments:
From "Biographical History Of Barton County" (1912)

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ks/barton/bios/winstead5gbs.txt

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